Gray wolf found shot and killed in eastern Oregon

An endangered gray wolf was found shot and killed in May in a forested area of eastern Oregon east of Pendleton, apparently the fifth wolf to make it to Oregon since the species was introduced to Idaho and Yellowstone National Park.

The animal, an adult female, was badly decomposed when it was found in late May and was only recently positively identified as a wolf by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service forensics laboratory in Ashland, officials said.

The wolf was not wearing a radio collar, but DNA analysis confirmed it was related to other wild wolves in Idaho. It did not appear to have been the same wolf that was videotaped in Wallowa County last summer, since that animal was black and the dead animal was a more typical gray-brown, said Russ Morgan of the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife.

The dead wolf was found on private land north of Elgin by a private citizen and reported to authorities. Officials recovered it May 25. It may have been dead for roughly a week before that, Morgan said.

Biologists had been investigating scattered reports and sightings of a wolf in the same general area since last November, he said.

Shooting a wolf is a violation of law since the animals are protected by Endangered Species Acts at the state and federal level. Federal law enforcement agents are requesting that anyone who may have information regarding the death of this or any other wolf contact them immediately at 503-682-6131.-- Michael Milstein